Jonah's genius
INsights 072, Friday 11th April 2025
Jonah's genius
INsights 072, Friday 11th April 2025
Have you ever noticed how the story of Jonah – the last major prophet before the era of Zachariah, John and Jesus – is so unique?
No other prophet abandoned his mission in frustration and reached such a low point, both literally and metaphorically, and achieved such notable success in the end.
I’ve thought about his example a lot over the years and I’ve found it especially uplifting in recent weeks.
For anyone who ever feels a hint or more of frustration with their Lord as a result of their own situation or what’s going on around the world – and particularly for anyone striving to make positive change who feels like giving up or who knows they’re not operating at the top of their game – Jonah’s journey stands as a timeless and powerful example of how to emerge from the depths of despair to the heights of fulfilment.
How it all goes wrong
Jonah is understood to have lived and preached in Nineveh, which would have been in today's Northern Iraq, around seven to eight centuries before Jesus.
Like almost every other prophet, he faced resistance.
Unlike every other prophet, there came a point when he decided that enough was enough.
According to the Bible, this was because he was frustrated that divine punishment wasn’t raining down on the people despite their stubborn denial.
In God’s final revelation, there is no explicit mention as to why he felt angry, but the fact that he had reached the end of his tether is in no doubt:
Remember the man of the great fish, when he went off angrily, thinking We could not restrict Him… (21:87)
Isn’t this remarkable?
The idea that any prophet would simply walk off in this way seems unthinkable.
But it happened… and not just that: He went off thinking We could not restrict Him, which is even more incredible as it suggests the kind of lapse in mindfulness, albeit momentary, that no prophet could possibly experience… except he did.
For those of us – and I count myself right up amongst them – who experience such lapses all the time, it’s precisely the unusual nature of Jonah’s error that makes this story so relatable.
Jonah fled his function thinking he might find some freedom.
His mistake was forgetting that true freedom was to be found in the midst of his mission despite the chaos and stress it entailed.
He wasn’t just moving over to a neighbouring town either.
The fact that he boarded a ship shows how badly and how far he wanted to get away!
But God had other plans.
Jonah was one of the messengers. He fled to the overloaded ship. They cast lots, he suffered defeat, and a great fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy. (37:139-142)
The story goes that after the ship had gone out to sea, a storm came and the ship was so full of cargo and passengers that the load had to be lightened.
Lots were drawn. Jonah got the short straw and ended up overboard, in the depths of darkness, lost and remorseful.
The peace and freedom that he had sought must have seemed so far away.
But they certainly weren't completely out of reach.
There is always hope.
How to start turning things around
What happened next represents what I think is the biggest comeback story in the whole of revelation.
All the perspective, wisdom and realisation that it took for the bounce to take place is captured succinctly and beautifully in less than ten words:
…but then he cried out in the deep darkness:
لاۤ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّاۤ أَنتَ
There is no god but You
سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ
You are perfect
إِنِّی كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِینَ
I was the one who did wrong
We answered him and saved him from distress: this is how we save the faithful. (21:87-88)
The first line represents complete devotion.
The second line represents limitless awe.
The third line represents absolute humility.
In other words, Jonah said what you and I must always say, especially when it’s tempting to point the finger at others or even upwards:
I’m here to serve You, and only You, my Lord.
You know exactly what You’re doing.
I take full responsibility to do what must be done.
All the deficiencies and errors are mine.
An important and overlooked element of intelligence is not just knowing what you don’t know, it’s knowing what you don’t need to know or what you can’t possibly know.
With this kind of knowledge, you can proceed with the task at hand, knowing that your job is simply to do your Lord’s bidding and leave the rest to Him.
Unless it's for the purposes of useful learning, the question is never, “Why is this happening?”
Rather it’s always, “What am I doing?”
In the end, Jonah’s genius was realising precisely this.
It was never about the outward outcome.
It was about mastering the inner game.
It was about him doing his best and never giving up.
He knew he had to return to the job at hand.
He knew that true fulfilment was learning to be with God fully whilst being fully with his people too.
He knew he had to be ready to tolerate their rejection and their blame, whilst continuing to advocate for God and all that is good.
And it’s a good thing he figured this out because:
If he had not been one of those who proclaimed God’s perfection, he would have stayed in its belly until the Day when all are raised up. (37:143-144)
In one short set of verses, the final messenger – God bless him and grant him peace – was addressed directly and told to learn from Jonah’s example:
Wait patiently for your Lord’s judgement: do not be like the man of the great fish who then called out in distress. If his Lord’s grace had not reached him, he would have been left, abandoned and blameworthy, on the barren shore, but his Lord chose him and made him one of the righteous. (68:48-50)
The lesson is clear:
If the mindset is one of blame, it will end in shame.
If the mindset is one of responsibility, it will end in tranquility.
Will the true believers please stand up?
Interestingly, the 10th chapter of the Quran that bears Jonah’s name is the very first in the assembled order of revelation to be titled after a prophet.
In it, after a few verses in which the difficulties facing the final messenger are acknowledged, the uniqueness of Jonah’s eventual achievement is celebrated:
If only a single town had believed and benefited from its belief! Only Jonah’s people did so, and when they believed, We relieved them of the punishment of disgrace in the life of this world, and let them enjoy life for a time. (10:98)
Elsewhere, the scale of the accomplishment is detailed in number, an outcome that Jonah had previously thought was impossible:
We sent him to 100,000 people or more. They believed, so We let them live out their lives. (37:147-148)
When we consider our situation today, there are reasons to be angry, frustrated and even hopeless.
But there is no justification to be any of these things.
We cannot write off our community or the societies in which we live.
We cannot abandon our collective responsibility to be God's ambassadors.
We cannot let the devil and the forces of darkness win.
God has no time for quitters, defeatists and pessimists.
He can make the seemingly impossible perfectly possible.
But He only backs true believers: people of connection, commitment and courage.
So let us learn from Jonah's timeless example and become such people.
Let us come together and work relentlessly to bring faith, hope and light to the world until our last breath.
Because here, and only here, is true freedom found.
Until next time.
Peace.
Iqbal
~~~
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